With computers becoming household items, printers and copy machines have also become prevalent among households. Printers and copy machines, however, use toner or ink very quickly. As a consequence, the cartridges typically need to be replaced or refilled very often. The manufacturers of printers and copy machines often rely on the sale of replacement cartridges to generate a healthy revenue. However, the strong demand for cartridges has created a big market for unauthorized cartridges and/or unauthorized refills. These unauthorized cartridges and unauthorized refills adversely financially impact the manufacturers of printers and copy machines.
Some manufacturers install a chip on their cartridges to record the amount of ink or toner in the cartridge. However, the chip can be reset by a refill kit sold by unauthorized dealers or in some situations, the chip can be replaced with another chip supplied in the refill kit. Either way, the existing technology has severe shortcomings in dealing with unauthorized cartridges and/or unauthorized refills. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide systems, methods and apparatuses that prevent uses of unauthorized cartridges and/or unauthorized refills.